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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: net · club · pitcher · patient · wake · face · land · sharp

  1. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. net — after costs
  3. land — to come down
  4. face — part of the head
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. net — in sport
  7. sharp — clever
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. land — ground
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. wake — a trail
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. net — for catching
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. face — to confront
  20. club — for golf
  21. land — a country
  22. face — to point toward
  23. club — for dancing
  24. patient — a sick person

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com